5th Place offerings

At 5th Place we offer everyone the opportunity to purposefully and consciously work with their feelings and emotions, learn how to effectively manage stress and anxiety, and become more present to live masterfully and mindfully.

Learning to thrive in an uncertain world

The world is wobbly. Nothing is certain. Our throw away culture has produced a plastic island three times bigger than France in the Pacific but no place to stay for the thousands of refugees fleeing wars. At home, political and ideological differences cause tension. Data has become a commodity that is used and abused. Ineffective and corrupt governments fuel economic downturns and contractions. Nothing is certain other than the levels of stress and anxiety are rising at a disturbing rate.

Pressure to perform in the workplace, at home, in the classroom; on the sports field continues unabated. On top of this is the need to relate well to co-workers, friends, family and loved ones. All of which results in rising levels of anxiety and stress that impact the quality of our living.

With all the thinking applied to the problems of the world, they should be solved. But they’re still there. In order to tackle and transcend the problems of the world, we need to think less and feel more.

Making the world a better place

Not to feel more anxiety, more stress, more unhappiness. Not to find another way to numb or hide from the feelings. Instead, to feel connected by learning to turn down the volume and regulate difficult emotions. By being able to regulate our emotions and embrace our feelings we ultimately feel better and become fuller, more whole, human beings. As a result we engage and connect more meaningfully with other human beings, our community, society, nature and the environment. And the world becomes a better place.

Traditional interventions tend to focus on thinking and understanding emotions as a way to mitigate their effect. At 5th Place we’ve created a model, process and tool of how we structure, store, represent and regulate our inner feeling states. This tool and process is called Shape of Emotion. It is content-free, gentle, safe, easy to learn and use and quickly clears the effects of difficult emotions allowing for a return to a centred, resourceful state.

Dealing with stress and anxiety

Central to Shape of Emotion’s application is to deal with the stress and anxiety that pervades our society. Around 20% of all South Africans will experience a depressive disorder at least once during their lifetime. Workplace stress, burnout and ill health costs the country around R40 billion annually. Shape of Emotion used strategically can make a sustainable difference.

With Shape of Emotion, the volume of any difficult (negative) feeling (sadness, anxiety, etc) can be turned down, released and let go. It can also be used to amplify and turn up the volume on any positive feeling (joy, excitement and happiness). Shape of Emotion is used by people of all ages, gender and race. It can be used on its own, as a primary intervention or included as a complementary tool with other modalities and approaches.

Focus and aim

It is our aim to have wellness practitioners, coaches, caregivers, teachers and parents trained in Shape of Emotion, to use in groups or one on one. In addition, it is our intention to train individuals who wish to become more emotionally resilient, to use it as a daily mindfulness practice.

Coaches, counsellors, therapists, caregivers, teachers, parents

Wellness teams and holistic health care practitioners

Professionals, managers and leaders working with people

Individuals interested in personal development

Anyone interested in making a difference in the world

5th Place Shape of Emotion offerings

A range of offerings has been developed to suit everyone from the first timer, who needs a slow introduction to his or her feeling space; to the enthusiast who wants to immerse him or herself deeply and even teach the work.

Shape of Emotion workshops

Developed for the specific needs of defined groups

Shape of Emotion care

For counsellors, coaches, nurses, teachers, care givers & those that attend to others